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Tuesday, March 24

NASA gets Colbert'd

So I set up a new blog to give links to my future articles in the Lanthorn. You can check it out here. I am still setting it up, so it will look better in the future.

I had to chuckle at an article in the Detroit News today about how NASA is naming the new room on their cash drain, err, International Space Station. NASA gave online voters four choices and the option of a write in vote. NASA's fluffy/hopeful/names that don't imply we are wasting your money included Earthrise, Legacy, Serenity and Venture. However, the write-in backfired. Comedian Steven Colbert urged his viewers on The Colbert Report to write in "Colbert" This ended up winning by a large margin and defeating other write-in votes such as MyYearbook, Ubuntu, Buddy and Xenu (Tom Cruise's god). The NASA-selected names finished in 8, 9, 10 and 11th place. NASA better stick to their word and allow Colbert to be used as a name for Node 3.

I have never liked NASA. They are a waste of billions of taxpayer dollars for something that has generated minimal results. Why not spend all that money on stuff here on the earth? No, instead we continually pay for experiments that fail, shuttles that blow up, mars rovers that never rove, and launches that never occur. I can't remember how many millions of dollars it costs for each day a shuttle is delayed, but its astronomical (pun intended). Sadly, our leaders such as George W. Bush, bought into the space fantasies of the 60s, as he wanted to put people on Mars. NASA is a huge waste of money. Space exploration should be privatized and NASA should simply shut down. Space camp was cool in 4th grade, but not now, with these economic times it seems ridiculous to spend money searching for planets that may be habitable for life. Not even for life itself. (As if America cares about life anyway.) Of all the cuts B-Rack could make, this seems like an easy one. Now there is the possibility that some scientist will stumble upon this and give me reasons why NASA should continue. I don't want to hear about Teflon, Tang or pictures of galaxies. No, I am still waiting for that incredible, space-exclusive discovery that changes the lives of every American citizen in way much deeper than a small improvement in the quality of life. Shut down NASA, and let the rich folks play space camp. I cringe every time I see the exhaust trail from a shuttle launch, because that trail is literally my money burning into the atmosphere so we can see how spiders mate without gravity. (They apparently have trouble...DUH.)